A Chinese court has sentenced a 78-year-old American to life in prison on espionage charges.
Hong Kong permanent resident John Shin Wan Leung was arrested on Monday however the court in the southeastern city of Suzhou did not release further details about the charges against him.
According to a statement by the Intermediate People’s Court released on the social media platform WeChat, he was convicted of espionage, sentenced to life imprisonment, and deprived of political rights for the rest of his life. According to US and Chinese media reports and records, Leong was heavily involved in Chinese cultural groups and expatriate groups in the
He was the head of the Texas chapter of the China Association for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification (APPRC), which represents the Chinese government’s claim to Taiwan abroad.
Leung also served as president of his foundation, the Leung Cultural Exchange Foundation, which sends musicians to China and the United States, The Wall Street Journal reported. He made frequent trips to China to meet with government officials.
Leung’s detention is likely to further strain China-US relations. Sino-US relations deteriorated under former US President Donald Trump after he launched a trade war against China in 2018. The two superpowers continue to clash over issues as diverse as Taiwan, China’s militarization of the South China Sea, and the origins of the novel coronavirus.
Tensions also increased in February when the United States shot down a Chinese spy balloon that Beijing claimed was a weather-monitoring device.
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